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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796763">Juan</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikabennet/pseuds/kikabennet'>kikabennet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ruben and Alvie Stuff [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>House M.D.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Siblings, Adoption, Family Feels, Foster Care, Found Family, Gen, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Protective Siblings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,877</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikabennet/pseuds/kikabennet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fits into Rochambeau and RACD. Juan Alvarez's past told from the POV (ish) of his cousin and adopted sister, Rachel.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Juan Alvarez and Rachel Alvarez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ruben and Alvie Stuff [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Juan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Rachel exists in any universe I write Alvie in so this is just to become familiar with her and Alvie's family.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Juan</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rachel watches without saying a word as the new chest of drawers is pushed into the former playroom. She’s ten now-too old for a playroom, but it’s still her space. Or it was. Now there’s a bed and chest of drawers and desk all crammed into the little half office portion of the house that for so long had been littered with her toys, books, and crayons. She wonders if this is how children felt when a new baby came into the house. A new sibling. Only, she wasn’t getting a new baby or a new sibling. A cousin she’d only met when she was very small was coming to live with her family.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Remember,” her mother keeps saying. “We have to handle things with Juan a little differently. We’re going to have to be patient with him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He needs a lot of love and kindness,” her father agrees, taking another cardboard carton filled with old toys out to his car. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rachel knew this, but she didn’t say anything. She’s heard <em> too </em>much about Juan Alvarez. He’s only a year older than she is, and he’s half white like she is, only his father is white. Mom and Dad told her Juan doesn’t remember his father, and they’d rather not either. Chole, his mother, was her father’s sister. Chole died when Juan was four. For a little while, Juan was living with Tia Marta and Tio Jaime, her father’s brother, but then something happened and Tia Marta moved to Chicago and Tio Jaime went to jail. Juan went into foster care. Her parents said they wanted him. They made a big deal out of it.So now Juan was coming to live with her family in her old playroom and she didn’t have a single say in the matter. She wasn’t sure how she felt about having another child in the house, especially a child who seemed so weird because her parents kept telling her that she couldn’t ask him a lot of questions and that he might cry sometimes or need extra help with reading. What kind of kid is he anyway?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re going to love him,” her mother says, smoothing out some of her hair. “I promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p><br/><br/>When Dad arrives home with Juan, the first thing Rachel notices is that his belongings are in a trash bag. He’s wearing jeans that look too worn and a shirt that looks too big and sneakers that are coming apart. He has the same light complexion as her and same brown eyes and dark hair. He’s only a little taller and has a large gap in between his front teeth. <br/><br/>“Why is your stuff in a trash bag?” She blurts out before anyone can say anything.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Rachel,” her mother warns, giving her a look.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan’s smiling, but he looks nervous. He runs a hand through his short, unevenly cut hair.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Well, uh, I ain’t got a backpack or nothin’ and besides they said this is easier because kids at the house get lice a lot. You can just throw the bag away.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“You two look like you could be twins,” Dad says and then leads Juan to his new room. Rachel follows her parents, arms crossed.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“This is mine?” Juan asks. “I don’t gotta share it with nobody? Are there other kids here?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Just Rachel,” Her mother replies, smiling. “We bought you a brand new bed and dresser.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan runs his hand delicately along the edge of the comforter. He turns to Rachel and asks, “Is your room close to mine?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Yeah.” Rachel shrugs one shoulder.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Go show him,” Dad coaxes.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel dutifully directs him to her room and says, “You can’t come in without my permission. And you can’t touch anything without my permission.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan is currently spinning the globe that sits on her desk when she says this. He stops. He looks kind of sad.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Oh,” is all he says.</p>
<p><br/><br/>It makes Rachel feel a little bad, though she’s not sure why.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“You can borrow the globe if you want,” she says. “Or spin it, but only if you really need to. Like if you want to know where a place is or something.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan nods and repeats, “Only if I really need to.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>He looks at the photographs on her desk. One is of her and her parents at Cape Cod. They went camping on her birthday. It was cold, too cold to swim, but they had fun. There’s another of Rachel on Christmas when she was four. She’s holding a large stuffed octopus and laughing. There are more-Rachel’s fourth grade school picture. Rachel on Halloween. Rachel and Mom and Dad at Niagara Falls.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I don’t have no pictures,” he finally says, picking up the one of Cape Cod.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Not even of your mom?” Rachel asks.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan shakes his head. He sets the photo back down and goes back to the globe. He looks at Rachel, a little worried.</p>
<p><br/>“How many kids were there at the house you lived at?” She asks, sitting on her bed.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Which one?” He asks, sitting down in her desk chair.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“The one you just lived at,” she says. “Did you live in more?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“The last one was with Mama and Papa Moore. There were six kids-all boys. They didn’t foster no girls. One of the boys was seventeen, almost a grown up. He had to go to a group home.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“What about before that?” Rachel asks.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“The Keeleys. They were nice. There were four kids and then me. They didn’t like us to be up after lights out. I got in trouble for that.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“And then you were at Tia Marta’s? Before that?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan shakes his head.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“The Ricardos. I only stayed there a few days. They had a lot of kids. I don’t even remember how many.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>He smiles at her and Rachel can’t help but smile back. She feels sorry for him. That’s a lot of homes in just a year’s time.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Do you like M&amp;Ms?” She asks, going to her dresser where she keeps candy. She holds out a share-size bag of M&amp;Ms.</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah.” His eyes light up. <br/><br/>They eat M&amp;Ms together and Rachel tells him about Mom and Dad-about how Mom stays up late grading papers and how Dad likes to sing to wake everyone up in the morning. Juan listens, really listens, and laughs at parts he thinks are funny. His eyes are big and sparkling and intense and Rachel doesn’t think she’s ever met anyone like him. </p>
<p><br/>---</p>
<p><br/>“How would you guys feel up to a couple of ice cream cones?” Dad asks a little while later.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Compton’s?” Rachel guesses.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Sure,” Dad says. “Get your shoes on.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Compton’s is a fifties style soda shop ice cream parlor run by Mrs. Jean-Louise Compton. There used to be a Mr. Compton, but he died two years ago. He was a lot nicer than Mrs. Compton, who watches children like hawks and never lets them touch the player piano in the corner. <br/>“What kind would you like, Juan?” Mom asks when it’s their turn to go to the counter.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan looks at the ice cream behind the glass and says, “That’s a lot of flavors. What’s that green one? Puh...static...oh..ee?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Pistachio,” Rachel tells him. “It’s a kind of nut.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan wrinkles his nose. “I don’t like that, I think.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel orders a chocolate fudge brownie with chocolate sprinkles. Juan asks for the same thing. She directs him over to the player piano and they sit on the bench, licking their cones. Juan’s is melting fast, dripping down his fist like a little kid. He attempts to lick it off.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Little boy!” Mrs. Compton calls. “Please sit at a table! Don’t drip ice cream on that piano!”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Sorry,” Juan says, and they move back to a table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/><br/>“Don’t mind her,” Rachel says. “She’s mean to <em> all </em>kids.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan seems to brighten at that. “Oh. So I didn’t do nothing wrong?” <br/><br/>---</p>
<p><br/>By dinner time, Rachel decides she likes Juan. He’s kind of weird, but not in a bad way. Over dinner he talks about how he likes to build Legos and draw and he would like to learn how to ride a bike (who doesn’t know how to ride a bike by eleven?) and his favorite animals and the subjects he likes in school (art). He listens to every piece of conversation and has second and third helpings of dinner. He offers to help clean the kitchen.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We got this, Dear,” Mom says. “Why don’t you go watch some TV with Rachel?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>They watch Spongebob together and Juan informs Rachel that he wasn’t allowed to watch Spongebob at Tia Marta’s house. They laugh and laugh and laugh.</p>
<p><br/><br/>When it’s time for bed, Rachel says, “Maybe we can come up with our own secret code to knock on the walls and talk to each other after it’s time for bed.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Yeah!” Juan’s eyes light up. “Like two knocks means ‘hi’ but three knocks means ‘are you still up?’ “</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel laughs. “Something like that.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>She studies him for a second. He didn’t bring pajamas. Mom and Dad had bought him some, and even though they’re a little too big, he seems so happy to be snug in them. He’s been so happy about <em> everything </em>.</p>
<p><br/>“Goodnight,” she tells him.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Night,” he says.</p>
<p><br/><br/>----</p>
<p><br/>Things are going really well with Juan in their house. They play video games together and do homework together (Rachel actually has to help him with his work because he gets words mixed up and can’t read very well) and watch television together. Rachel takes him to her favorite parks and they spend hours on the playground getting callouses from the monkey bars. Dad promises to teach him how to ride a bicycle soon so they can ride bikes to the park. <br/><br/>Things start to not go so well one morning-early morning- that Rachel wakes up to an odd sound. It takes her a while to realize that it’s Juan through the bedroom wall. He’s crying. She knocks three times on the wall. She hears him go silent. She gets up and decides to investigate.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Juan?” She knocks on his door before opening it. “Are you crying?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>It’s very obvious that he is crying, but he shakes his head. He’s sitting up in bed.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I’m gonna be in trouble,” he says.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel frowns. “Why?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan sniffles. “Sometimes I can’t help it. I’m a heavy sleeper maybe-I don’t-I don’t know.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>It takes Rachel only seconds to realize what he’s getting at. She doesn’t laugh at him or call him names. She just shrugs.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I’ll help you change your sheets if you want,” she offers.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Tia Rosie and Tio Miguel are gonna be mad at me,” he says, climbing out of bed.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Are you living with the same Rosie and Miguel I am?” Rachel scoffs, helping him to ditch the comforter first. “They won’t get mad. People pee the bed sometimes. It’s life.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I didn’t used to,” Juan says, helping her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>After the sheets are off and the mattress is bare, Rachel says, “I know where some clean sheets are.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>She never tells her parents about it.</p>
<p><br/><br/>----</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan has bad dreams. He wakes himself up crying frequently. He also seems hesitant around Dad sometimes. Dad loves to bear hug and wrestle with Rachel, and this seems to make Juan very uneasy. Dad doesn’t grab him or try to wrestle him, but Rachel can tell it scares him a little. She’s not sure why.</p>
<p><br/><br/>---</p>
<p><br/>Mom and Dad pick Rachel up from school early one day, but not Juan. They drive her to McDonalds and after she finishes her lunch and apple pie, they tell her they have big news.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“But we’re a family,” her mother says. “We want your input too.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>They show her some papers. They want to adopt Juan.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We had to talk to a judge,” her mother tells her. “Because we’re not sure where his father is, but the judge agrees that Juan is happy and thriving with our family so we would like to make part of our family.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel frowns slightly. “He’s not part of our family already?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Of course she wants to adopt Juan! Juan who stays all afternoon with her at the park and eats M&amp;Ms in the dark in front of the TV under a blanket together and who draws (and he draws well) pictures of places they visit and leaves them on her desk. Juan who is fun and sweet and kind.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Her parents are smiling and ask if she can help to keep him out of the house on Saturday morning so they can set up for an adoption party.</p>
<p><br/><br/>-----</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel keeps Juan at the park all morning and when it’s time to go home, Juan asks, “Do you want to play Clue when we get back?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“No,” Rachel says simply. “I think Mom and Dad want our help with something.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan is surprised, but delighted to see balloons and a cake and gifts waiting in the living room when they return.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Surprise, Juan!” Rosie says, kissing his cheek.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“This is for me?” He asks. “It’s not my birthday. Did I get an A in Science or something?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Mom and Dad have him open the certificate first (Rachel picked out the frame), and explain to him what this is all about.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We really love you,” Dad says. “Me. Tia Rosie. Rachel. We want you to be part of our family. We want this to be your home.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“What does this paper say?” Juan asks, looking through documents that came with the certificate. “Daniel Kelly. Who’s that?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“That’s your father,” Mom says, stroking some of his hair. “A judge talked to him. He told the judge we could adopt you.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“A judge talked to him?” Juan asks. “He didn’t want me?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Oh, Dear heart,” Mom says. “It’s not that he doesn’t want you. He wants you to be safe and healthy and happy. He wasn’t very old when you were born and didn’t know how to be a father yet.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“But giving you to us was the best thing he could do,” Dad chimes. “Because we want you and we love you.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Do you think when he’s ready to be a father,” Juan says, still flipping. “He’ll come and get me?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>It breaks Rachel’s heart to hear him say that, so she mentions the cake. Juan beams at the thought of cake.</p>
<p><br/><br/>-----</p>
<p><br/>“I don’t know what to do, Rosie!”</p>
<p><br/><br/>It’s a weird night after the party. Mom is crying and Dad sounds very upset. Juan is hiding out in his room. Rachel eavesdrop through her parents’ door.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We’re taking him to see a counselor,” Mom says, still sniffling. “That’s all there is to it.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I knew Jaime did some terrible things to him,” Dad says, sounding tired and sad. “But after cake, he came up to me, Rosie, and he was scared-Juan was scared. And he asked if I wanted him to wait in his bed in his pajamas or in his underwear.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Mom starts crying again. Rachel frowns, confused. Why would Mom cry about whether Juan wore pajamas or not?</p>
<p><br/><br/>“And when I told him I don’t understand,” Dad continues. “He said-” he lowers his voice, “He said ‘I don’t get cake and presents and stuff without doing stuff, right?’ “</p>
<p><br/><br/>“That poor sweet, wonderful little boy,” Mom says, still crying. “We should have fought harder, Miguel. We should have fought harder for him.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel is too confused by her parents to understand so she goes to Juan’s room. He’s crying too. What a night.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I’m in trouble,” he says, sniffling on his bed. “Do you think Tia Rosie and Tio MIguel will send me back to the Moores?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel sits down next to him. “Of course not.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I don’t wanna mess up,” he tells her. “I like it here. I like you and Tia Rosie and Tio Miguel. I’m happy.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We’re happy too,” Rachel says, pulling him into a hug. “We’re happy because you’re here.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>---- <br/><br/>Juan goes to see a counselor twice a week. Mom says there are things that happened to him that shouldn’t be discussed yet without the help of a therapist. Rachel wants to ask what-she wonders if that’s why Tio Jaime is in jail, but she knows Mom will just tell her it’s none of her business or maybe she’s too young, so she doesn’t. <br/><br/>---- <br/>Juan is ecstatic. Mom and Dad invited Tia Marta and the boys-Xavier who’s ten, Jordan who’s twelve, and Matthew who’s eight. The boys Juan grew up with most of his life and refers to them as his brothers. It makes Rachel seethe with jealousy at how elated he is. How come he doesn’t refer to her as his sister? Twice she’s slipped up to kids at school and called him her brother. <br/><br/>Christmas Eve. Juan keeps checking the window and his hair and smooths out his shirt. He keeps asking when they’re arriving. When they finally do, they don’t seem as thrilled to see him. Xavier is playing a gameboy, Jordan says nothing, and Matthew pulls away when Juan tries to hug him.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Did you get my letters, Tia Marta?” Juan asks, sitting next to her on the sofa. “I know you were probably really busy and couldn’t write back. I know you have lots of church stuff to do, but I wrote you some letters.” <br/><br/>“That’s nice, Mijo,” Tia Marta says, smiling briefly at him.</p>
<p><br/><br/>The grown ups talk and head into the kitchen. Matthew and Jordan are huddled on the love seat on either side of Xavier, watching him play his handheld game.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“What game is that?” Juan asks after being ignored for several more minutes. “I have Mario Kart. It’s pretty fun.”</p>
<p><br/>Rachel watches them ignore him some more. Juan stands over the loveseat and cranes his head trying to see the screen. Matthew notices and cups his hand over it, covering it up. Little asshole, Rachel thinks.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Do you guys wanna see my room?” Juan asks. “I put up a cool new poster. I got it at the book fair at school. It’s of a Tiger.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Go and see his room,” Dad encourages, coming out of the kitchen with crackers, olives, and cheese on a tray.</p>
<p><br/><br/>The boys get up reluctantly and follow him up the stairs. Rachel follows too, but goes into her own room. She’s angry with Juan. Angry that she’s the one that plays with him and draws with him and taught him to ride a bike, and he’s suddenly so ga-ga excited over the family that threw him away when they moved to Chicago. She fumes on her bed until she hears Juan ask in a small, sad voice, “Why did you do that?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>She goes to investigate and stops in the doorway. Juan is crying, not hard, but still crying, and picking up Lego pieces off of the floor. It’s from his aquarium set. It had taken him a good two weeks to finish. The boys are sneering at him.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Oops,” Jordan says, smiling. “It slipped.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel’s moving before she knows it and she storms into the room and hits Jordan in the face. He seems shocked by it and starts to cry.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Why did you do that?” Matthew yells at her angrily.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Pick it up!” Rachel tells Jordan. “Pick it up, you stupid piece of shit!”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel and Alvie love to cuss when their parents aren’t around. It’s fun. It’s freeing, but this time her cussing isn’t fun or freeing. It’s because she doesn’t have words strong enough to show how upset she is.</p>
<p><br/><br/>By this time, Matthew has run to tattle to the adults. They come into the room and Tia Marta cradles Jordan like he’s five instead of ten.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Rachel,” Dad says, his voice stern. “Did you just hit him?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“And I’ll do it again,” Rachel says hotly, staring right at Jordan. “He broke Juan’s aquarium. He did it on purpose!”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I didn’t mean to make anyone mad,” Juan says, standing up. “I didn’t.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Mad?” Rosie goes over to him. She puts an arm around him. “Who’s mad?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan looks sadly at his ‘brothers’.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“They said they’re mad at me,” he says. “Because I put Tio Jaimie in jail, but I don’t think I did. I don’t remember. I just remember the lady-the social worker coming to school and getting me out of class and talking to me. I didn’t know Tio Jaime was goin’ to jail.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“We have to visit Dad in jail!” Xavier says angrily. “He says you made everything up just to get attention. Because you were tired of chores and church and wanted to live somewhere else. Somewhere better.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan shakes his head. “I didn’t.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Dad sighs deeply and says, “Maybe it was little soon to get the boys together.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Maybe,” Tia Marta says. “How about we call it a night and see where things are in the morning?”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Good idea,” Mom says, rubbing Juan’s back.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Tia?” Juan sniffles, looking at Tia Marta. “I’m really sorry he went to jail because of me.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Tia Marta smiles sadly, but says nothing except, “Come on, boys. Get your coats.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>As they head downstairs, Mom and Dad look at Rachel.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I’m not saying sorry,” she says. “Not even if you take away all of my presents. Not even if you beat me. I’m not sorry.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“Calm down,” Dad says, laughing. He pulls her into a hug. “Defending your brother’s honor. That’s something.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Rachel knows she does owe <em> someone </em>an apology.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I’m sorry I hit him,” she tells Juan. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>“It’s okay,” Juan says.</p>
<p><br/><br/>----</p>
<p><br/>They decide to open one gift early. Rachel tells Juan to open hers first. Truth be told, she has friends, but not any outside of school, and the only people she buys gifts for are Mom and Dad, so she’s excited.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Juan opens it. It’s a sketchbook and fancy colored pencils. His eyes light up.</p>
<p><br/>“Open it,” Rachel coaxes.</p>
<p><br/><br/>Inside the front cover is a poorly drawn stick figure of Juan. Another next to it. Rachel. In her neat cursive, she wrote, <em> Juan Gabriel Alvarez. Artist. </em></p>
<p><em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em>“It’s great,” he says. “I really love it.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>She knows he’s telling the truth too. He hugs it.</p>
<p><br/><br/>“I took Juan shopping,” Mom says. “A secret trip. He got you a gift too.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>It’s a writing journal. Fancy too. And some pens. Colored fine-tipped Sharpies. The kind she likes. There’s a sticky note attached to it. In Juan’s less than perfect handwriting,</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em> Raquelle Lillian Alvarez. My sister </em>
</p>
<p><em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em>Rachel hugs him and tell him that she loves it, but that’s a lie. She’s not really interested in the book. She does, however, love those words.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em> My sister </em>
</p>
<p><em> <br/></em> <em> <br/></em>She wasn’t sure about Juan when he came to stay, but now she’s confused. She can’t imagine life before Juan, not really. She was lonely a lot. She didn’t know that then. She knows that now. She likes having someone to play with and cuddle on the sofa with and share secrets with. She likes having someone to care about, more than her own parents, more than herself.</p>
<p><br/><br/>She doesn’t just like Juan. She loves him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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